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David J.

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Everything posted by David J.

  1. Not being aware of commercial guitar wire I bought the 60lb test which is 0.026" (0.66mm) in diameter. That is 1.29 X the 0.51mm Kerry is using. While that's a little bit larger it would probably fit. PM me with your address (and any special international mailing instructions you know of) if you want a chunk.
  2. Which size wire did you get, since it only lists it in test strength? ← I'll have to check. Hopefully I still have the box or the email invoice since I don't have easy access to a micrometer to measure the wire. If it works for you Lior I can send you 20-30 ft since I don't think I'll ever use it up.
  3. I used stainless steel fishing line for my guitar: http://www.alltackle.com/american_fishing_...olling_wire.htm
  4. That's correct. There's two ways of making praline, cooking the nuts in the sugar as you carmalize and toasting them seperately and adding them to the carmalized sugar just before pouring it out. I decided that it didn't make a big difference and processing the combination was problematic so I keep them seperate. I could be wrong, but I don't see how it could be different from the second method.
  5. "Crunchy Hazelnut Praline" is one of my most popular truffle flavors: 6 1/2 ounces blanched hazelnuts, Toasted 6 1/2 ounces sugar 8 ounces butter, Room temperature 16 ounces Milk chocolate, Tempered I carmalize the sugar, pour it out on a Silpat, then break it up and run it through a burr grinder on a coarse setting (rather than a whirly grinder). This gives me uniform cruncy bits and no sugar dust. Recently I've started using Bob's Red Mill Hazelnut meal/flour instead of grinding whole nuts. Either way give it a nice toasting in the oven to bring out the flavor. Then temper the chocolate, wisk in the butter, add hazelnuts and crunchy bits and pipe into molds. This recipie will fill about three trays of the standard Geodesic mold. I like to call this "micro-crunch" as you get lots of little crunches in each bite, but no jaw breakers. I haven't done a scientific test to determine how long the crunch lasts, but so far it all the truffles have been consumed well before failure.
  6. You can coat the crunchy bits in barrier substance. I dipped carmalized bits of sugar in cocoa butter when I made a "Creme Brulee" truffle and it preserved them. Next time though I would just use a very thin dark chocolate as pure cocoa butter isn't needed and doesn't taste all that great if it is thick.
  7. One way to get the feel for a particular type of chocolate is to melt it out completely. Raise it up to 105F for an hour and you won't have any crystals at all. Now stir it around, lift up a ladle full and let it pour out and pool. Watch how much it bunches up and how long it takes to settle down flat again. That is as thin as it will ever be, so if you want it that thin or thinner you will need to add cocoa butter and get the feel again. Now seed it. Use just enough fresh chocolate to get a good temper test. Then repeat the above feel exercise to imprint what "Tempered" feels and looks like for this chocolate. When you notice it acting thicker you will know that you should melt out some of the excess crystals. Since dark chocolate crystalizes at 94F and you will be holding it around 92F it will continue to thicken over time. That is why you can briefly run it up to 95-96F. Some of the extra crystals will melt out, but it takes time for them to melt and in doing so they will lower the temperature back down. I like to make the ice water analogy in my classes. Imagine you have ice cubes floating in a water bath at 30F and a room temperature of 25F. Over time the ice will grow and use up the water. Now you can heat up the water to 36F and the ice won't immediatley melt, some of it will melt and lower the temperature back down to 32F. Only if you keep adding more heat for a long time will all the ice melt out. If you stir the water the ice will melt faster than if you just let it sit still. Tempering isn't as good a term as pre-crystalization because it is about three things: Temperature, Time, and Movement. Just running the water up to 36F and immediately taking the temperature might convince you that all the ice was gone if you couldn't see it and didn't know that it takes time AT temperature to have an effect. That's why so many people are frustrated working with chocolate, they only consider one of the three aspects of crystalization. Now it's much easier with ice because you can see the crystals, but it's the same with chocolate. Actually to complete the analogy you have to add dirt to the water to make mud. The dirt represents the cocoa solids and the water cocoa butter. The proportion of water to dirt determines how viscous it's going to be when "in temper".
  8. I've taught three classes for friends and co-workers so far, two hand dipping classes and one on molding. I wasn't going for a profit so I just charged around $10 to cover the amount of chocolate I guessed they would be taking home. In my opinion the ideal number of students is 5-8 as it allows for a good deal of hands on while also encouraging interaction between participants. Once I carried my gear to another home, and the other two I ran it at my home. The latter was definately easier. The trickiest thing for me is having tempered chocolate ready for use at the right time. I start with a theory lecture on tempering, then move on to the practical. I started with untempered batches the first time and it took longer than I planned to get them tempered. The last time I had them perfectly tempered before everyone arrived only to find that they were nearly set up an hour later when I went to use them. I always over estimate the amount of material I can get through. I think the theory and practice of tempering along with hand dipping or the basics of molding is about all you want to attempt. If you give enough hands on it will consume more time than you think and you will get enough questions to fill the class time.
  9. If you start with one of the round truffle shells, you can pipe to booze into it, place a small disc of chocolate over the hole and glue it into place with tempered chocolate. They don't have much of a shelf life - a few days, before the liquid finds a way to seep out. ← I used this method many weeks/months ago and I stashed a few away to test this. I believe I finally tossed them a couple weeks ago (I'll have to verify), but at that time I didn't notice any leakage. I am going to be using a different method this week to close cherries with undiluted brandy. Some time ago there was a thread where we discussed spraying cocoa butter onto the filled mold to form a stiff enough layer that could support a normal closing. I finally received my oversized molds last week so I'm going give it a shot. I can let you know how it goes and how long they last without leaking.
  10. From what I understand, Flexipan runs fiberglass through the mold and cutting one in half would expose the threads. Do you do this with flexipan and if so, do you have any issues with the edges tearing or the threads coming out?
  11. Thanks, but no luck there. They have the Large Cone mold, but neither of the other two. It's amazing how difficult it is to locate them.
  12. I'm trying to purchase the Large Cone (FLX 1094), Mini-Cone (FLX 2083) Half-Sheet, and Dog Bone (FLX 2163) Half sheet Flexipan molds, but I just can't find somone who wants to sell them to me. I found the Large Cone at ChefRubber, but they didn't have the half sheet Mini-Cones, just the full sheet. I'd prefer a half sheet of the Large Cones, but flexipan doesn't make one. I looked for a comparable Large Cone mold in Gastroflex or other manufacturer but couldn't find anything close. If anyone knows of a mold close to the 70mm Diameter x 60mm tall cone let me know. Even though it's more expensive I tried buying direct from the DemarleUSA website, but they haven't responded to my request for an account. I'm half tempted to make my own Large Cone mold as I have some food grade silocone, but I'd have to find or manufacture half a dozen cones first. Does anyone know where I can purchase these molds?
  13. Bacon, Butterscotch, Apple, Thyme I've got a dehydrator, but it only gets up to 145F and the recipie calls for 170F. After a couple hours in the machine I moved to the oven at 200F for an hour (I was baking meringue) and that rendered out a lot more fat but it didn't get "dried and crisp". I read Alineaphie's blog where a Nesco American Harvest Dehydrator was used, but while the author states it was run at 185F the advertising for the device states that it is good for 95-155F. What is everyone using? What is the minimum temperature/time you need to ensure the bacon is safe?
  14. JPW was asked that very question in class. He responded that he just rolls it out again. When asked about the chocolate bits he smiled and said they were an extra bonus.
  15. I'd like to try this recipie in the 10 cup Nordic Octopus bunt pan. Research shows that 2 9" rounds are 12 cups so it looks like I'll have 2 cups worth left over. That's probably not enough to adjust the size of the recipie. What I am most interested in is the adjustment for baking time (if any) for a pan like this.
  16. Thanks Kerry! That looks like it will do the job. I'll have to find new boxes for it, but I won't have to worry about the cherry sticking up out of the mold when I try to bottom it.
  17. I've done the fondant to liquid sugar thing before, but that's not what he was asking for. It's more of a brandy soaked cherry inside a liqueur filled shell. The sort of liqueur filled chocolate that is typically found with a sugar crust. I'm going to try spraying a light coat of cocoa butter to back them off so I don't have to adulterate the brandy with a lot of sugar. The main trick for me will be choosing the right mold. I just measured (and ate) one cherry and found that it is roughly 20x25mm. It looks to be a standard size to me. I dropped it in a cherry mold that is roughly 25x25mm and while it fit without a chocolate shell, it won't with one.
  18. 25mm is almost an inch (0.984"), and I think that is going to be too shallow when you subtract the thickness of the shell and bottom. I once measured (and subsequently lost) one of the popular brands of chocolate covered cherries and it was somewhere around 1.25" in diameter and about as tall. Does anyone have a mold they've done this with? I should have rememberd the thread about bottoming with sprayed on cocoa butter since I was in it. Thanks for the reference.
  19. I'm looking for a mold large enough for a full sized cherry (after casting the shell) without being too much larger. I have a coworker who asked if I could duplicate his favorite "Asbach Chocolate Covered Brandied Cherries" as he couldn't find anyone who would ship to him. From what I can tell they are liqueur filled with brandied cherries in a molded dark chocolate bon-bon. The most interesting point is they claim not to have a sugar crust which makes me wonder how they close it off for bottoming. I've had two canning jars of cherries in the fridge for several weeks now. One with straight brandy, the other with a fancier mix with sugar, lemon juice cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla in addition to the brandy.
  20. If you use one of these remember to stir your chocolate before taking a measurment as the top layer will cool well before the rest since chocolate is a poor conductor.
  21. I like to use an infra-red themometer as there is no probe getting in the way and I don't have to clean it off. The melter holds temperature well enough that I don't feel the need to continuously monitor it with a probe.
  22. I find the easiest way to temper is to set them to 110F overnight and let it melt all your chocolate. Then the next day turn the temperature down and stir. You can start seeding right away to aid in cooling it off, or let it sit and stir it every so often until it gets close to your temper point before you add your seed. Then stir until your seed melts out (at the correct temp for your type of chocolate) and you are ready to test your temper. That makes it simple with no mess.
  23. I wasn't timing myself so I'm not positive about the accuracy, but that is what it felt like after the fact. Keep in mind that it included cleaning the brush between the four colors, and some time figuring out the proper technique. I'd have to do it again to truely judge how fast I could manage the 120 cavities I painted the first time. That said my guess is that spattering with a brush is indeed faster as well as far messier.
  24. I use as low as 15psi and manage to get good color movement with the normal tip. That's what I like about the 100LG med over the 250. I lost the trigger lever cleaning the brush after the color splatters so had to use the old 250 to back it with white and ended up breathing a lot more color. Just last weekend I finally got around to trying out the new tip (been too busy for chocolate or egullet for a while). I also had initial trouble using it, but found that if I held the brush vertical and flipped the trigger that it would produce some nice effects. I posted the result on the Showroom Finish thread. You might want to try it again with a low pressure and that technique. A requirement for this brush (and probably any internal mix brush) is that you have to heat the tip fairly frequently as the air cools the tube and thickens the color enough that it doesn't want to flow. I would get some nice spatter, but it would thicken just enough that flipping the trigger was required.
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